Shadows and Sunlight
by Lili32
Summary: Jace is strong, yes, but Sebastian is stronger in an epic battle for Clary's life. Jace loses and must face the consequences while Clary learns a fatal rule - villains will always win because they have nothing to lose. What will Jace do after he finally meets Clary again after 6 years of separation. Can their love overcome the shadows to bask, once again, in sunlight?
1. In the Beginning

**[****Four leaf clover****]**

February 12, 2012

**Chapter 1**

_Jace POV_

The scent of pizza wafting from the Institute's kitchen roused me from my sleep. I turned lazily on the bed, taking my blankets with me as I misjudged the distance of soft bedding I had left and landed on the cold, hard floor of my room. It was amazing how uncoordinated I could be when half of my brain was asleep while the rest of it seemed unwilling to move off the Clary topic. I seemed to be infatuated with Clary more than ever these few days. Perhaps it was because I had just turned eighteen and was eligible to marry under mundane law as well as Clave law. Not that I had any intention of 'pilfering Clary's purity' as Jocelyn had put it the last time I had made a joke about marriage.

Pulling myself from my musings, I untangled myself, pushed my blankets back onto the bed and set off down the hall in search breakfast. I had been living with Izzy's poor attempts at cooking long enough that I could tell the smell coming from the kitchen definitely wasn't burnt, soaked or drowned in tomato sauce. I also knew that it also definitely wasn't made by Izzy. All this was proved when I stepped into the kitchen and was greeted by Alec, Izzy and Clary sitting around the table which sported a take-away pizza box. Stifling a yawn, I sat down next to Clary, reached for a slice of pizza and raised an eyebrow, "You order pizza at five in the morning? You do realise that the amount of fat floating around in the form of 'aroma' has the potential to put my whole training schedule off track."

"So don't eat it", was Izzy's biting reply.

"Don't blame us; it was all Magnus' fault. He though Alec was getting too skinny, apparently, and decided to fatten him up", Clary said, coughing slightly to cover her laughter.

I glanced over to Alec who seemed slightly horrified at the thought. No doubt, he thought that someone as stubborn as Magnus probably wouldn't stop until his weight became a four digit number.

Alec looked away and made a feeble attempt to change the topic, "Izzy got dumped by that faerie, by the way."

So that was why she was in such a sour mood. I blinked, processing the morning's events.

Then, slowly and deliberately, I dumped my slice of unbitten pizza back in the box and shoved it towards Alec, gesturing for him to take it. The crimson blush on his cheeks deepened as I padded back out of the room and headed to my room to shower and change.

I had just finished my shower when there was a soft knock at the door and a second later, Clary rushed in.

"Do you wish your mother an early grave?" I asked innocently. Jocelyn had come down pretty hard when she found out about us. And since then, Clary and I had tried our best not to induce insomnia on her poor battered soul. This included obeying section three of the 'If Clary was to date Jace' manual which basically said that we were not to hang out in each other's rooms (unless we were accompanied by an adult – sometimes, we had to use Alec as that 'adult').

"Jace, you know my mum doesn't dislike you that much. Anyway, we're leaving now! Magnus just called. He said that there's something big going down near Taki's. Since it's so close and there're going to be so many Shadowhunters with us, I'm allowed to go!" she gushed and promptly flounced out of the room.

Wow, she must be really happy. Clary never flounced. But still, I was worried. She said it was something big. Big things usually had the potential to hurt her. Almost instantly, I corrected myself – big things usedto have the potential to hurt her, but not anymore. She had trained hard. I knew that. She could be counted as a Shadowhunter now, a lethal weapon. I knew that too. And I knew more than anything that she deserved enough respect not to be treated like a little kid.

Sighing, I dressed in my gear, slid a handful of seraph blades into my belt and left the room to find everyone standing in a line in the hallway, waiting for me.

"The prodigy finally decides to grace us with his presence", Izzy's voice was thick with sarcasm.

I allowed myself a small smile, "Of course, wouldn't want to keep the Clave waiting".

I wondered, not for the first time, if I was the only one who marvelled at how true that statement was. We were Shadowhunters, bound to the Clave. When the Clave called, we came, like obedient puppies.

The ride to the 'crime-scene' was bumpy at best and the other times… well, it could only be described as 'soul-jarring'. We were still two streets off when the first sounds of battle reached our ears, which were more sensitive than most. Then, the smell hit us. It was a mixture of the smell of something (no doubt something foul) rotting and burning. It made my stomach hurl and I counted myself lucky that I hadn't had anything to eat this morning. I won't be hurling pizza anytime soon.

We rounded the corner and came to a halt about twenty metres away from Taki's. Someone had had the good sense to put up some police tape to avoid having to fight whilst trying not to disturb the mundies. I felt my gut tighten as I scanned the fight. Here and there, seraph blades still gave off glowing sparks but most of what I saw was wounded Shadowhunters and blood – Shadowhunter blood, mixing with the thick ichor of the demons, running in rivets along the street and mingling in the gutters.

Everywhere we looked, there were demons of all size and shape. Their harsh voices bounded off the concrete buildings which encased us, echoing until they became the cries of something alien, something unfamiliar. Even at this early stage, it was evident that the Shadowhunters were outnumbered. It seemed that the amount of demons gathered here could have rivalled even Valentine's army. Yet while Valentine's demons had been controlled and sent to attack at the Clave's weakest points, these demons didn't seem to have a mastermind behind them. They were wild and untamed in a way that reminded me of the attack on Alicante. These demons weren't sent here to attack for any specific purpose. They had been sent to wreak havoc and stretch the Clave's ability to defend ourselves as well as the mundanes.

The sharp cry of a Shadowhunter as he thrown against a brick wall drew me back to the battle. I winced inwardly; brick walls were hard, very hard if you were to be thrown against them. I drew a seraph blade and threw myself into the thick of the fighting, landing squarely on the back of a Raum demon. It spun around under me, trying to jab me with its spikes. I balanced cautiously, all my senses burning with awareness and as I swung by, decapitated a Ravener and effectively saved the life of a fellow Shadowhunter. I mercilessly plunged them into the demon underneath me. As it started folding in on itself, preparing to journey back to its own dimension, I leapt, landing on the sidewalk and dug my heels in, skidding to a stop in the thick, gooey ichor which was still stained with rivets of scarlet.

An ugly demon with two heads sidled up to me, grinning with both its mouths. I felt a grin tug at the corners of my own lips.

"Weren't there any shuttle buses to take you back home? Fine, I'll give you a lift." The grin was still on my lips as my hand snaked forward, the blade sliding up under the diaphragm. I gave a satisfied nod as I heard the harsh crack of bone and the demon sagged and hit the ground.

It was at that particular moment that I heard a shrill cry that echoed off the buildings on either side of us. The cry was a familiar to me as my own. _Clary!_ I whirred around, searching hard, desperate to find her within the fighting crowd. But she was nowhere to be seen. I started to feel the panic build in my chest as I searched harder, wishing that my eyes had deceived me. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I had twenty-twenty vision. That Clary wasn't just missing from my view… she was simply gone.

I glanced around frantically. Nobody seemed to have noticed the shrill cry; they were all too caught up in their own fighting. Narrowing my eyes into slits, I concentrated on Clary. Sometimes, if I concentrated hard enough, I could hear her angel blood calling to mine. No such luck this time.

The panic was beginning to rise again. _Goddammit!_ Where was she? I scanned the fight again. We were winning, we were definitely winning. And yet, a terrible sense of dread was building in the pit of my stomach. And suddenly, just as sudden as the cry had been, something latched onto my back. I whirled and lashed out with my foot but not even a second later, the _thing_ had launched itself at me. It barrelled into my side and we tussled as we rolled, coming to a stop by the mouth of a dark side alley. The sun was blocked out here and all I could see were shadows. Not a great advantage in a fight, I must say.

Then, as sudden as the thing had barrelled into me, it pulled on my arm, hauling me to my feet. Now, that's a much better position to be in when fighting. Unfortunately, that also meant that I didn't have enough time to duck and my head hit the side of a thick steel pipe with a hollow thud. "Oh great Angel", was the last though that went through my head before I passed out cold.

_Clary POV_

There was something so very peaceful about passing out, especially as someone had been trying to choke me to death. And even more especially, as I suspected that no one else could even see that specified someone. Yes, it was definitely peaceful.

And then, I woke up… to find myself staring into a pair of eyes; one blue, one green. Hurriedly, I scrambled backwards, trying not to show my rear. It was the man from the battle. He wasn't a demon exactly, but he seemed to give off demonic pulses. And his eyes were cold and calculating, in a way that reminded me of the eyes of someone I knew should be well and truly dead – Sebastian. For a moment, I felt puzzled. Did someone try to create a creature like Sebastian and succeed? I tilted my head slightly, trying to place where exactly I had seen him before.

"Don't you remember me, little sister?" he drawled.

No. No, that can't be… He was dead. But then, if I looked carefully…

His jaw was more prominent and his hair much darker than the pale blonde it had been before. The panes of his face seemed harder, as if he was truly chiselled out of stone. And… the colours of his eyes were different, strangely so. The most deceiving thing about his façade was that he held himself differently somehow. Before, his graceful movements had reminded me of a panther, crouched and ready to spring. Now, his movements were jerky, stiff and looked as if he had practiced them for hours on end in front of a mirror, trying to get them to look like the movements of a human. Yet, he was still the same person.

Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern.


	2. And then, there was light

**[****four leaf clover****]**

February 20, 2012

**Chapter 2**

_Clary POV_

There was something so very peaceful about passing out, especially as someone had been trying to choke me to death. And even more especially, as I suspected that no one else could even see that specified someone. Yes, it was definitely peaceful.

And then, I woke up… to find myself staring into a pair of eyes; one blue, one green. Hurriedly, I scrambled backwards, trying not to show my fear. It was the man from the battle. He wasn't a demon exactly, but he seemed to give off demonic pulses. And his eyes were cold and calculating, in a way that reminded me of the eyes of someone I knew should be well and truly dead – Sebastian. For a moment, I felt puzzled. Did someone try to create a creature like Sebastian and succeed? I tilted my head slightly, trying to place where exactly I had seen him before.

"Don't you remember me, little sister?" he drawled.

No. No, that can't be… He was dead. But then, if I looked carefully…

His jaw was more prominent and his hair much darker than the pale blonde it had been before. The panes of his face seemed harder, as if he was truly chiselled out of stone. And… the colours of his eyes were different, strangely so. The most deceiving thing about his façade was that he held himself differently somehow. Before, his graceful movements had reminded me of a panther, crouched and ready to spring. Now, his movements were jerky, stiff and looked as if he had practiced them for hours on end in front of a mirror, trying to get them to look like the movements of a human. Yet, he was still the same person.

Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern, my brother. I refused to think of him as Jonathan, though, opting instead for Sebastian. Maybe it was unfair that I'd pinned the name of an innocent boy into this monster that was standing before me but for me, Jonathan would always be the brother I didn't have and the son my mother had lost. Jonathan was anything but this.

If he noticed my sudden recognition, he didn't show it. Then, I noticed something very disturbing. It started at his cheeks, spreading and growing until it had pulled the bottom of his face into a grimace. With a jolt, I realised that he was grinning. And yet, it was so… alien; so demon-like. Before I had known that he was my brother, I would have said that he owned a striking figure and a charming smile. Yet now, it seemed that all traces of his human façade had disappeared.

My mind grappled around for something to say, for some snarky comment to throw at him in order to break this oppressing silence.

"Your eyes are… different", I said idiotically.

"I died", he said in a flat voice, "Have you had a chance to look around yet? This is your new home, after all".

His obscene grin made me want to slap him, kick him and maybe yell a little.

"I have no intention of living here".

"No, no, of course you won't be living here. This place will be more… the place you spend your time after you death".

I was blinking, still reeling from the recent discoveries when he made a sudden, blindingly fast movement. Nope, that hadn't changed at all. Jerking me to my feet, he set off down the alleyway.

"Don't you want to know what happened after the battle? You don't want to know how I survived at all?"

I stayed quiet. Of course, I wanted to know. That information was vital for the clave and would come in useful later but if he was baiting me into asking, I didn't want anything to do with it.

"Little sis?" he leaned in, breath softly tickling my neck.

That was when I decided. No matter what happened, I wouldn't interact with him at all. No matter if I got any information from him, I wasn't revealing a thing.

_Jace POV_

There was a soft scuttling to my right and the cool concrete beneath my burning cheek was soothing. I didn't particularly want to wake up. But then… Clary.

I shot up so fast that it was painful and I wobbled a little before regaining my footing and turned to face my attacker, surprised that he has given me such a long time to recover my senses. I drew a blade form my belt and spun, holding it out, just under the pale, smooth neck of…

"Isabelle?"

She huffed in annoyance and proceeded to drag me further down the alleyway. Her brows were knitted together in concentration, "Did you hear that scream?"

I nodded my affirmation, "It was Clary. I'm sure of it."

"You know, Jace, I think I saw something. It headed down this alley."

"Think you saw? You're not sure?"

"It was… strange. Like a shadow – there one minute but gone the next. I can't be sure but if it was Clary, I have no doubt that she's been taken from this alley. We need to get backup. I'll go and contact mum and you can…"

"No, if we do this, whatever this is. If we go after Clary, we do it now, alone if we have to," my voice was a gravelly growl as I set off down the alley at a light jog. At this point, I didn't care who had Clary. But may the angel help them when I got my hands on them if they were hurting her.

_Clary POV_

Sebastian has dragged me to an old, rusty, abandoned warehouse near the quarry. He didn't even bother blindfolding me or keeping the location of the warehouse a secret. On one hand, that worked to my advantage but it also meant that he was confident that I'll never be leaving the warehouse alive and that scared me.

Sebastian tugged on the latch on the pock marked door. I grinned when I noticed that it was rusted shut, the layers of orangey-grey sediment forming an impenetrable shield around the latch. Glancing sideways that me grin, Sebastian deliberately placed his stiff hand over the lock, there was a loud snapping sound and suddenly, the rusted lock fell away, leaving the door to creak open slowly. I glanced at where the lock had fallen to the ground. The rust on it looked like it had been eaten away by acid.

I stumbled into the cavernous space inside the warehouse. It was hot enough in there to have sizzled a few sausages on the corrugated iron benches and after only being trapped a few minutes in the sweltering heat, I was sweating through my thick Shadowhunter gear. Yet, Sebastian showed no signs of discomfort whatsoever. That was when I broke my resolve and asked him how he had really returned and so different and… powerful.

And he just stood there, with his alien body that was so unsusceptible to heat and his hands, which I now knew could melt the rust so easily, dangling by his sides. He almost looked relaxed but he didn't answer me. He gave me just one, measly little sentence, but it was enough to turn my blood to ice.

"I took a dip in the fountain of life."

He leapt to action, then, as if actively having to put an end to the conversation and my prying questions. Before I knew what he was doing and before I could even think about fighting back, he had me strapped to a wooden beam, the rough texture seeping into my skin.

Then he proceeded to attach my aching wrists to a braided rope and secured the rope to the wood with a nail the size of my hand. Then, with a wicked grin, he pulled a small lever and my feet left the ground as the wooden beams rose, the rope pulling my up and up, towards the rafters and the metal roof that was burning with the heat of the midday sun.

"This is where the real fun begins." Far below me, Sebastian's voice echoed up to my ears. He procured a whip from somewhere. It was as if he had snapped his fingers and it had appeared. I could tell it was made of a similar electrum as Isabelle's golden whip. She had looked so graceful and deadly when she used it on the demons she so often fought. Idly, I wondered if Sebastian could handle a whip as well as she did.

With a grin, he lashed out at me and a stinging, blinding pain flashed across my shoulder, where the whip had landed. As I felt the blood pooling at the gash, I knew, impossibly, that Sebastian was even better than Isabelle, who had turned the whip into an extension of her arm.

I glanced down and for the first time, saw the huge vat that sat underneath my bound form. Droplets of my blood had fallen and were collecting at the bottom of the steel vat. Why hadn't I noticed it before? It was such a careless, rookie mistake.

Sebastian noticed my gaze, "Yes, I do need your blood. My little dip into the fountain of life can sustain me now, but certainly won't hold me forever. Your blood, with the angel's sacrifice is enough to make me human again, powerful again. There's no reason why I can't have some fun while I'm collecting the blood. Are you ready, dear sister?" And with that, the golden whip snaked out again, slicing across my leg and turning my vision hazy.

I stared at the cracks in the corrugated iron roof, tracing the fissures like a magical map. I'd like to follow it one day like the ants and beetles that frequented them. I'd like to see where they lead, certainly to a better place? A place without pain? Was it even possible?

I'd lost count of the days that had passed since being "captured". It could have been hours or minutes or days or months. Certainly not years? Not yet? What did it matter anyway, why did I care? After all, time just bled into one. Bled? Blood?

I could smell blood. Whose blood was it? Mine? A face flashed through my mind. Golden hair tumbling down the back of his neck in thick curls, eyes like the sun itself, a delicate nose, a full mouth and the elegant panes of cheek smooth. Was it his blood, then? I struggled to remember. I had the feeling that I should know this face, this... person. Somehow, he was meant to be important to me. I struggled to match a name to the face but it slipped and slid, just out of my reach. I had a feeling it started with a J. Or a K or an L or... I couldn't be sure anymore.

I did remember pain, though. Unbearable, blinding, hot, flashing pain. Everywhere was pain. Or was it pain was everywhere? I couldn't get my order right anymore.

What did it matter? I knew I was going to die.

_Jace POV_

I was sitting on the roof of the institute. In the greenhouse where I'd first kissed Clary to be exact. Anyone watching me would have assumed I was calm. In reality, I was anything but. I'd come up here after nearly putting my fist through Myrse's desk.

Clary had been missing for four days already and the clave was moving uncharacteristically slow. Isabelle and Alec, at least, had seen some of the urgency of the situation and has helped my scour every nook and cranny of New York. Yet, everywhere we went, we ran into dead ends. The trail was starting to get cold and the situation was starting to get helpless. What I really couldn't take, though, was the waiting, the endless waiting.

I unfurled myself from the stone bench and padded silently over to the edge of the roof, my eyes scanning the skyline, jumping from deserted building to deserted building, all bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Another day gone.

"Clary", my voice broke, "where are you?"

**A/N:**

**So... Sebastian's back, Clary's being tortured slowly for her angel blood and Jace is tearing his hair out with frustration. What will happen next?**

**Also, You may (or may not) have noticed that I changed both the story name and my pen name. It's nothing major and doesn't impact the story at all. It's just that I haven't updated in quite a while and I now feel that there are more suitable names and pen names for my story. Fear not, though, in the 9 months I've abandoned the story, I've been planning madly and already have the general plan for this story. It'll probably continue for about 50 chapters and might include a sequel. **

**I have to say, I'm a sucker for reviews so please, review. It'll make me happy and I'd be interested to see what you all think will happen next too. **

**- LILI**


	3. The loss of something precious

**[****shadows and sunlight****]**

January 26, 2013

**Chapter 3**

_Jace POV_

It seemed that even time I tried to Mayrse about reinforcing the search team or sending in more shadowhunters to purge the city, she would conveniently find an excuse to escape the institute. Isabelle and Alec, at least, were a little more sympathetic and seemed to be able to put themselves into my shoes. It hadn't helped proceedings, however, when they spent days following me around the city, not relinquishing their tight grip on my arm for a single moment. I had a sneaking suspicion that they were both under orders from their mother to keep a close eye on me lest I do something stupid. Like running away and find Clary on my own… which I still fully intend to do.

Though, in retrospect, some of these… adventures weren't so successful. Sure, I picked up a few clues, but mostly, I just ended up in compromising situations. Something I once surely would have enjoyed, but not so much anymore.

I had found a lead a few days ago. It was a small, tiny little flicker of hope that was barely worth noticing at all. But Mayrse was still stoutly refusing for me to join in the search party and with Izzy bursting in on me every two minutes, anything was better than sitting around at the institute.

The lead led me to an abandoned factory warehouse on the outskirts of Brooklyn with the East River twisting behind it. With no resources whatsoever, I had merely left a note for Alec and left with a handful of weapons. A week had passed and I was losing hope. It was almost impossible to secure the building so I searched instead for a door. As they say, sometimes using the door is the best way in. I paused outside the corrugated iron door and hesitantly, I closed my hand around the catch. If Clary was in there, I would get her out. I swore it on the angel. Clary was my main focus now, Clary and nothing else.

_Clary POV_

There was chanting below. I could hear it, a steady, rhythmic chanting that echoed around the thin tin walls and concrete floor of the abandoned factory. The smell of blood had already haunted my senses for a week. Or maybe it was longer? My sense of time was distorted now, twisting away into darkness, a thin and faint path that made it hard to concentrate on anything. My blood was nearly gone now. Sebastian had told me, over and over again, how lucky I was to have survived so far. He'd probably expected me dead in a few hours.

There was a mighty bang, interrupting my reverie and the door burst open, crashed against the wall and promptly fell off its hinges. There was an angel standing in the doorway. Huge and imposing, with the sunlight glinting off his golden head and a shining blade in his hand, he stalked forwards quickly. And just as quickly, he threw the blade. It flipped twice in the air and sank, straight and true, into Sebastian's neck. Black blood pulsed at his throat but all he did was laugh.

"You cannot kill me shadowhunter." His smirk consumed his wooden face. The angel noticed me, then. And his eyes narrowed dangerously, "I will annihilate you".

The quiet snick of his blade drawing free from its sheath prompted Sebastian to draw his own sword with a slow, malicious grin. The angel's foot shifted only a little, a rune glowed red on his shoulder and he leapt, the sword out in front of his chest. He slammed into Sebastian, taking him clean off his feet and plunging the sword so hard and fast through his chest that I saw the tip of it slicing out through his back. He gave a small, triumphant grin, put his entire body weight behind the sword and twisted. A dull, muted crack resounded through the warehouse. But Sebastian merely pushed the angel off him and stood, brushing him aside as if he were only a pesky fly.

"You cannot kill me. I am immortal. What do you think I've been drinking for the past week? Hint, it's not Earl Grey", his voice was croaky and faint, but it thrummed with power. The sword was still sticking at an odd angle out of his chest, covered up to the hilt with black blood. He glanced at it with a bemused expression and yanked it out, hefting it expertly in his hand, "Angel life blood can give the drinker incredible talents and physical ability. Above all, it makes the drinker immortal. Clary's done a very good job indeed. And now, you've lost the advantage".

Quick as a cat, Sebastian shimmied up a portion of low scaffolding and cut the thick knot from the rope. It had been all that had been holding me up and with it gone, I could only plunge down into the side of the vast steel vat. The angel and Sebastian glanced briefly at each other and leapt simultaneously. The angel rolled to a graceful stop at the bottom of the vat and tugged me upright.

"Clary, oh, Clary... Let's go", the longing in his voice was painful.

What followed was a blur - a blur of fighting and dragging and pounding footsteps until we burst into the early evening sunset. After days trapped in the darkened warehouse, the sunlight on my skin was a relief but it was painful to my groggy eyes. The angel took no notice and just kept dragging me towards the edge of the river muttering about a quick escape the whole time.

The corrugated iron roof of the warehouse creaked against the rusted metal bolts and a second later, the roof exploded outwards, metal shards raining down on us. Sebastian was crouched on the roof with a snarl at his lips. We were nearly at the river now, nearly to safety. The angel raised a seraph blade, as if using its faint glow to ward him off.

He jumped and sailed through the air with a slight whistling noise. He summersaulted over the broken edge of the roof and landed squarely on the angel. The seraph blade was knocked to the floor as they rolled over and over, thumping into the side of the warehouse. Sebastian picked up the fallen blade and sliced it across the angel's shoulder, drawing dark red blood.

"No!" The yell seemed to burst forth from my mouth without conscious thought. Sebastian lifted his head and glanced at me, slashed the angel one last time and leapt for me. I could feel his hands tightening against my throat, squeezing the very air from my lungs. A blade flashed at his belt, a beautiful curved blade, its silver hilt set with winking red rubies.

"_This knife is one of a pair, of Kindjal knives." _

I could feel the fight and the life leaving my tired body as I stared into the bottomless black eyes of his. He wasn't going to stop. He had no mercy.

And the next moment, the angel slammed into Sebastian's side, sending him flying in a high arc across the short embankment.

"Don't touch her", his voice was low and rough and full of a barely concealed hatred.

But Sebastian merely laughed, got to his feet and slid the beautiful blade out of his belt. "I will destroy you with this knife." He pulled his arm back and let fly the knife. I flew, straight and true.

It missed the angel by a metre…

…and buried itself up to its ruby encrusted hilt in my chest.

_Jace POV_

The blade flew strong, but sailed harmlessly past me.

"You missed", I said was sure certainty and taunting in my voice. Sebastian shook his head slowly and I turned to see Clary just as she fell, the decorated edge of the dagger protruding from her ribcage.

I ran to her, slipping and sliding on the mossy rocks. My heart hammered in my chest to a strange rhythm, "Clary, Clary, Clary, Clary, Clary…"

Surprisingly, there was very little blood around the wound. It gave me a brief flare of hope, at first, but then even that withered and died as I remembered the blood encrusted vat. She was running out of blood to lose. Already, her eyes were closing and the smile fading from her lips. I shook her slightly and her eyes snapped back open.

"Angel", she said, her voice hoarse and uneven.

"No, I'm not an angel. No."

He brow furrowed for a moment, then, a spark of recognition lit in her eyes, "Jace."

"Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm Jace. Come back to me Clary." But her eyes had already closed. I held her close to me, sobbing into the crook of her neck. I sat on the back and sobbed for I had lost a beautiful, precious angel. She smelled like blood and steel and sweat. But underneath it all, I could still smell her scent of Lavender soap and paint and canvas, just like it was the first day I had met her.

Overhead, the sunset lit the sky to a bloody red, reflected in the still waters of the East River. It's the end of another day.


End file.
